Frank and Irene
Frank and Irene is a youth novel by the writer Karl Neumann , which is the second book in his Frank novel trilogy. Like its predecessor Frank , it is one of the most widely read books for young people in the GDR . The novel was first published by Kinderbuchverlag Berlin in 1964 and had 11 editions by 1981. A paperback edition followed in 1977 and 1982, and in the 1980s there were two further editions with a total of three editions. In 2005 the children's book publisher Leipzig reissued the novel. The novel has also been translated into Ukrainian and Latvian and was published in Kiev (1969) and Riga (1984).
The eponymous story of the first love of the two protagonists Frank and Irene is treated rather subtly. The novel is divided into 30 named chapters. It is told in a third person, from an authorial narrator's perspective and with a large proportion of verbatim speech . With 275 pages it is the most extensive part of the Frank series.
The novel was illustrated by Bernhard Nast . It is recommended for readers aged 12 and over. According to the writer, Frank's story was not initially intended as a trilogy. According to his statement, numerous letters from readers and, last but not least, the urging of the publisher were decisive for a continuation of the story. Neumann himself described it as a "reader assignment".
content
The plot starts where the previous work ended. After the student Purzel is rescued by Frank, the young people continue their way to the pioneer camp . Once there, the tasks are distributed; Frank, the captain, is elected by the camp's students as "chairman of the camp council". The good time for the students in the camp is overshadowed by Frank's decision to leave school after the eighth grade, which is now over, in order to train as a tractor driver at the RTS . His teacher Fräulein Trapp, camp manager Alfred and last but not least Irene tried to keep him from this idea. However, their efforts remain in vain for the time being, as Frank leaves the warehouse prematurely to present himself to the RTS. Bureaucratic hurdles initially prevent him from taking up the position.
At Irene's instigation, the teacher goes to Rostock , where Frank's father, the foreman Simon Brinkmann, works on the port construction. She manages to persuade him to quit the job and come home to his three children. He had already promised to return before he last changed jobs. In the meantime he sent his son a telegram advising him not to take a job; he would be home in three weeks. Frank's visit to the RTS sparked his interest in the tractor engines. The machinist Machnitzke certifies that he could well become an engineer, which in turn would require a tenth grade. He is now willing to finish school.
After the end of the pioneer camp, the school holidays continue. Frank, who has decided to stay at school, still wants to become as independent as possible; he wants to make money. That is why he and his friends Wanze and Pepo enroll at RTS in training to become a shift tractor driver in order to be able to help during the harvest season. All three pass the driving test and receive a driving license. In order to be able to obtain this, they pretended to be a year older and previously sneaked their parents' signatures. First they get away with it and call themselves " partisans ". They secretly help in a nearby village. At first, however, they are only given ungrateful work; when they prove themselves, however, they are allowed to help with the harvest and the cultivation of fallow land with the tractors.
When Frank's father comes home, Frank is initially dismissive. Since Frank comes home drunk on the first evening his father is back home, he is suspicious and reproaches himself for neglecting him and his siblings. However, it turns out that Frank was pressured to drink and it is an isolated incident. The father decides to expand the attic of the house to create new living space. He is disappointed that Frank is not helping him; however, because of his harvest work, which the father knows nothing about, he is fully engaged. One day the three “partisans” accept an assignment that takes them to their city, where they are caught by Wanze's father. This reports it to the school. The new strict teacher is willing to solve the case; he instigates a kind of tribunal in the teachers 'room in front of the parents' council , the college and some students, Irene acts as mediator. When some attendees cited the achievements of the three - especially Franks - at the harvest and for the community, and it was also found that they didn't have to cheat older to take the driver test, the charges were dropped. Frank and Irene left school together that day and walked home hand in hand.
In Plot addition there are numerous small incidents between Irene and Frank, where the slow approach both understand and can thus justifying the name of the novel. Frank remains captain follows on from the content of the novel and concludes the Frank novels.
analysis
In her analysis on litde.com, the reviewer Karin Richter takes the view that the author succeeds in combining "an adventurous plot with the conveyance of meaningful and value-oriented moments" with his text. The text also has “a remarkable peculiarity” that sets it apart from other phenomena of this time. For example, “the exclusive commitment on a 'large socialist construction site' [...] is not praised”, because the father neglects the family because of his work and the term activist thus gets a “bitter and ironic twist”. In the story, the author avoids "any pathos", a key statement for the readers is "not to wait 'until something comes from above', but to act yourself". This moment is by no means just a side note, which is shown by the fact that the instructor of the FDJ district leadership “presents himself as a pompous busybody and a liar”. In contrast, the political stance becomes clear when the author puts "the Credo" of Pawel Korchagin, the protagonist of Nikolai Ostrowski's How Steel Was Hardened , in the mouth of his title hero and when he "apostrophizes the group of boys as partisans". In this regard, “adventurous action is combined with work for the community”, for example when the boys fight a fire in the village or take the tractor driver test to plow fallow land without their parents' knowledge.
Richter notes that the feelings between Frank and Irene, even if these are “only hinted at with caution”, play a role that should not be underestimated in the effect of the novel on young readers, and that the rapprochement between Frank's father and Irene's mother means one for both young people "A perfect family is promised".
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Karin Richter: Karl Neumann 'Frank und Irene' (1964) on litde.com - topic portal literature (accessed on August 20, 2010)
- ^ Karl Neumann: Frank , page 590f. Kinderbuchverlag Berlin , 2nd edition of this edition 1989, ISBN 3-358-00342-6